


Your Eyes Ablaze

by IamLurking



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M, More tags to be added, Pre-Canon, Vague descriptions of injuries/death of foot soldiers, spoilers for revelation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-26 20:50:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7589656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IamLurking/pseuds/IamLurking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This place was nonsensical from the changing earth to its watery sky, so it was only natural it’d lend itself to build bonds every bit as incredible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Buried Crown

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not even sure what this started out as but it certainly didn't end up how i imagined it. The first two are respective backstory exploration chapters, and the third moves along with the actual in-game story (and hopefully shippy stuff).
> 
> I am posting this while half of the other two are already written, because if i don't this probably wouldn't have surfaced until december and I at least have an incentive now to write faster.
> 
> To the 5 people and the lizard who make content of this pairing, I blame you all for dragging me with you.

"A buried crown, in the farthest depths of the earth."

* * *

 

There was a faint thud and Xander looked up from his book, ink pen still in midair. When no other sound came for a long moment, he returned to passing his notes in legible writing, candle light burning without waning for a few hours already.

There was another faint sound and he put down the pen on the desk this time, careful it didn’t roll and stain his new notes as he stood up from the table, stepping out into the hall and trying to decipher where the sound came from.

The hall was immense and empty as it should have been, no one but him was supposed to be here at this time of the day and week. And yet those faint sounds were not of servants, loud enough to have carried into the room.

It took him many minutes to reach the end of the hall, but as he grew closer he heard more of them, and once he heard something of metal clattering against wood he took off in a run for the remaining door and yanked it open.

His brother was holding a pair of scissors, dropped immediately to the carpeted floor at the sudden entrance of Xander, and stepped beside to reveal another person. Clumps of hair were strewn all around the floor instead of her head. His sister’s bright dress was stained red and at seeing him, she started to cry.

* * *

 

His duties as crown prince always meant he had to be immersed in politics and affairs of state. In this very moment, it meant achieving respect from allied soldiers around him, and terror in the eyes of his enemies. Even if he had been in such skirmishes before, this was the first time he was ordered to do so, and his father’s demeanor when giving it uneased him even so far away in this field.

Ever since he had grown enough to hold a sword, he had practiced with almost every weapon he could find, slowly losing initial clumsiness to at the very least achieve decent skill. He was not tall enough to wield Siegfried yet, barely more than a child, and yet he sat atop a horse, in a crowded skirmish and wielding both lance and sword.

It was not his first battle and he already had enough experience to not freeze in fear as a first reaction at hearing the opposing battle cries. His weapons were stained with blood, but he still hadn’t reached the frontline yet. Most were cut down by other members of his small force, and the rest that didn’t, escaped or succumbed to injuries after being taken for prisoners.

A group of lancers broke the first line, taken down one by one, until a few remained and in a desperate attempt, one struck at his horse and managed to throw him to the ground.

Another rushed to take advantage, weapon poised far above him and enemy immensely tall to his own position in the floor. All he could do was lift his own lance as fast as he could, knocking away the enemy one and then thrusting forward in the general direction of the enemy as far as he could.

Training had ingrained these movements into his muscle memory, so although he had his eyes open all the time, he didn’t realize he had impaled the lancer until blood reached his grip, and the body collapsed on the ground as he dropped the only thing that had kept him upright.

* * *

 

His father had just returned from the summit at Cheve and Xander was present in the room when the announcement was made. King Sumeragi was dead, in retaliation by an attempted attack by the Hoshidan envoy and Chevois knights. Hoshido had never given an interest in helping them, so it would have been natural for them to try and pull the weakened plant from it’s roots, and yet they failed so his father had claimed.

The repercussions of his father’s actions kept him busy for many weeks to come, skirmishes all but ceased because of the still living Hoshidan queen, and as such, almost all direct trade with Hoshido had ended as well, managing essentials by turning to nations who still traded with them.

It was but months after, still dealing with the small repercussions Azura’s kidnapping brought, that he ever thought of not believing his father. Hoshido had always defended, never invading or retaliating. There was no sense for the sudden nature of the attack.

He walked through a small hall in one of the deepest levels of the castle, so despite the numerous lamps and chandeliers, it was biting cold even with a cape. His father had sent him to greet his brother, still wary from a kidnapping attempt that rendered him amnesiac, and as such, would not know any of them.

He hadn’t said names, and he had been with Leon just hours ago, so he wondered for a moment what lady of the court might have given him another brother this time. When he got to the designated room, he opened the door to greet him with comforting words and tales to try and jog his memory even if he had never met this sibling of his before. Instead, all words died in his throat as he stopped abruptly at seeing the child inside.

His father had many concubines with and after his mother, but none of them would have dared to name their child something as foreign sounding, not as their very breathing seemed to be calculated to appease him. No woman in Nohr had the color of this child’s hair, and he would have thought that color was impossible for healthy eyes to have.

The Hoshidan king had 5 children, and one of them had been missing after his death, no body found.

His name had been Kamui.

* * *

 

This senseless bloodshed was outrageous. It had been the frontmost thought on his mind in a battlefield ever since he was old enough to be in one. He could only remember so few exceptions his fingers in one hand could probably count them all.

Siegfried was a familiar weight in his hands now, and rarely he found the need to take out a lance to gain the upper hand. The power of the legendary weapons was harsh on the user, but uncontested in the battlefield.

The pommel of Siegfred reached his chest, brute force and reach already familiar enough after the years he has had the sword in his possession, even despite the lack of battles ever since the hoshidan King died. And yet despite the regal figure he imposed, he felt very further from it in that moment.

The sand dug into his mount’s hooves and rendered him almost useless, the few mages in his command too close to the other riders to be able to make a dent in their frontlines. This would have been a minor setback, if it weren’t for the reinforcements.

Three wyverns were knocked off the sky before they could realize what happened, and he saw the golden birds circling around like vultures, arrows nocked and ready at the first sign any of the grounded wyverns had of taking flight.

He was almost overwhelmed at this point, he and his retainers forming a wall to try and stop the emboldened hoshidans. He took advantage of Siegfred more than ever, picking those behind the frontline with the dark flames it conjured and finishing those in front with the dark metal itself

Yet, as time passed by and the collection of small injuries and scratches increased while his vulneraries decreased, he began to think it might not be enough. Retreat was made impossible by the giant birds circling them, and too many of his company had died to even think of it, the slowest of them would only be picked one by one.

Suddenly the massive flap of wings beside him made him shield his eyes against the sand, and he looked beside him to see an abandoned horse, quiver and arrow missing with its person and he turned his eyes to the sky, horrified when he saw them atop the wyvern, both of his retainers in the winged beast and coming close to the golden birds.

He couldn’t afford to watch as he had to cover now thrice the area, and yet he looked up as he heard the kinshi’s wails as the last of them dropped to the ground, for he heard the sound of a heavier beast hitting the sand, far, far heavier than the hoshidan birds.

He looked toward the origin of it, and his heart dropped as he recognized the wyvern, panic allowing him to tear through the remaining soldiers with a brutal efficiency, carving a path for the rest of his soldiers to clean up and reach his retainers.

They had been so high up in the sky he could only remember the shadow they made. And when he reached them, it was all left of them, carved in the sand by their fall.

* * *

 

Passing through the wards left by his father always felt like a shiver of cold water down his back. They weren’t close to even see the fortress, and yet the telltale sign allowed him to relax. Elise made a small sound at the sensation, half uncomfortable and half excited, spurring her horse to a faster trot.

No matter how effective the wards were at letting only specific people pass, he couldn’t help but be anxious someone would follow and pass through them. Nobody hadn’t so far however, and in no time they were at the fortress’ entrance, received by Lilith and leaving their horses with her.

Elise took off immediately, running over to see if Kamui was already up while he took the time to organize his things. He had just finished a mission and as such he had a few days until he needed to report.

The steps echoed loudly until he reached a carpeted area, absence utterly immediate the moment he stepped inside the main building. Few people dwelled here besides bound servants, and despite the small size of the fortress, it still felt underpopulated and cold.

The lull in conflict between Hoshido and Nohr meant there was no reason at all this fortress had to be used, much less even remember it’s existence because of it’s remote location, it was of no use unless Nohr was being conquered and that would not happen unless Hoshido stopped defending and turned to attack them.

He heard a distant yelp, echoed by emptiness and smiled at the familiar sound. Kamui had just woken up apparently, and he half wished, half envied his brother to keep sleeping, without a care in the world that this fortress allowed him to.

This uneasy peace was far better than a full blown war, and if he would do anything to see his homeland and family free from more struggles than necessary.

* * *

 

Peri was a familiar presence at his side by now, and he thought he was finally getting used to her expressions and exuberance. It reminded him of Elise in a way, her childish demeanor and speech similar enough, even if she was old enough to be called a young woman now.

“Ooh that looks painful!”

Right now she was almost to the edge of her seat, looking at the individual fights in the tournament. She was banned from participating as she was his retainer, so she contented herself by looking at possibly interesting opponents.

Xander looked at the match she was talking about. It was a sword fight between two mercenaries, a man with short, blue hair and a woman with blond hair pulled in a high bun. The man had a long gash on the left side of his torso, likely what Peri had been referring to, although the the woman wasn't looking much better off.

The strikes were forceful and even tired and injured, it was clear the man was very good, probably could give Peri or even his own brother a decent match.

It took a few more minutes but the man triumphed, giving a bow to the audience before retiring to the healers tent.

It was the last sword match of the day, meaning he would see him along with the three best tomorrow, remembering his face to look at more closely tomorrow. Right now, he contented himself at watching the next discipline, the bright red hair of a bow-wielding mercenary catching his eye immediately.

Perhaps this year would be very interesting as the last.

* * *

Queen Mikoto’s shield had held unwavering for years, and yet in these past months it had started to slowly retreat, little by little as if her age had caught up to her, power diminishing as the toll of constant years finally charged it’s price.

Little, neutral towns were the first left unprotected, slowly leaving the confines of the magical ward as it retreated. Most of the towns did not haste in relocating, as they had lived for more than a decade under the protection. They had forgotten the bite of Nohrian steel, and the flames and the icy storms of their spells.

Nohr was balanced always on a precarious edge when it came to providing for their citizens, and the first attacks did not come from ruffian's arrows and axes, but from forged Nohrian steel and blazing thunder that erased any obstacle on their path. After the first few fell, the smaller ones ran away to seek refuge in bigger towns or into Hoshido itself.

The largest, most fortified ones instead asked for aid to Hoshido, and they answered. And yet it wasn't enough.

It would never be enough unless Queen Mikoto ordered their army to march out, Xander thought as he surveyed with distaste the still burning buildings. Flame eating away at what could in the stone buildings while stone was strewn around by the incessant bolts from their mages. As more fertile lands on the borders were left unprotected by Queen Mikoto, even Xander could predict what would the king issue next as an order.

All of this was a waste of power, of unnecessary bloodshed. But it had been almost a decade and a half and Hoshido hadn't opened trade with them. Hoshido could sustain itself with its fertile lands blessed by the gods and precious stones. Nohr had enough ore to give a thousand swords to every one of its citizens, but barely enough adequate lands to feed a fourth of them. 

They seized everything they could, valuable ore, food stocks, even prisioners to be sent back to the inside lands of Nohr. Xander wondered if this was to be their way of living in the future.

He wondered if this was to be his legacy.

* * *

"For those destined to claw their way upwards the sky."

 

 


	2. A Heavenly Throne

"A heavenly throne for those who descended from it."

* * *

His back hit the training mat too quickly again since he had last stood up, feeling the shock of the paneled floor beneath him through his ribs and making him forget how to breathe for a moment.

It was barely past noon and he had lost count of how many times had he been thrown to the ground in that single training lesson. It wasn’t even the last one in his day, and already he could feel fading bruises replaced in the same place by new ones today.

He got up as quickly as he could, spying Saizo by the corner of his eye, just as bruised and even with more than he did if that was possible. Kaze was faster by a smidge, and Saizo was too hot headed so that probably helped. Still there were things even he couldn’t evade while this small, and bore them without protesting.

The one training him was a older young woman, looking nonplussed by his fall and continuing his movements the moment he was on his feet again. Kaze preferred training with her most. At the very least she did not look at him condescendingly, even if she didn’t interact much more than necessary.

He was the youngest, and as such he was scorned by many for daring to try and shine in the same limelight as his brother. If he had been born a few years later, there would be not so strong of aggression against him, but he hadn’t, and as such he was a threat to Saizo and his position.

Kaze tried not to care. He had but one path to follow as son of the clan leader, and Saizo was his brother. Even if in pure solidarity, he would aid him in every manner he could.

* * *

Cheve was as foreign to him as most of Hoshido, so he couldn't help but look around to take in as much as he could of the scenery, oddly built buildings and clothes of the people.

Their envoy was paraded by the curious townspeople, knights of the region flanking them along their personal envoy. They were here to negotiate a peace treaty, so their guard was mostly for decorative purposes, which is why he and his brother were allowed to come as pages for the accompanying royals.

Saizo was looking stubbornly ahead, keeping an eye on the crown prince, Ryoma, who was looking around every once in a while, glancing at King Sumeragi when he thought he wouldn't notice.

Prince Kamui was more interested in sleeping than looking around though. How he could sleep with the movement of the convoy and the noise outside, he didn't know. He was just a little child, a few years younger than him, and he looked awfully small in the cushions he was sleeping on.

The early morning was pleasantly refreshing, the rising sun shining without being overwhelming from the armor of their soldiers, and as he looked around more, he noticed glints in between the people and far behind the crowd.

Kaze narrowed his eyes and followed them, until he got a good look at one of the soldiers wearing the armor. It was in similar style as the Chevois envoy, much less ornamental and less luster compared to their escorts. They were walking outside the crowd perimeter though, and their armor was very alike to the soldiers escorting them to the small fort that housed the regent of the province, so he thought nothing at it, returning his eyes at the occupants of their cart.

Prince Kamui yawned at that moment and rubbed sleep from his eyes, peering sleepily at the surrounding crowd and waving after a moment. Kaze laughed at the reaction and worries of the soldiers slipped his mind for the rest of the day.

* * *

He sometimes wondered if their elders knew his mistake and that was the reason he was scorned much more than usual, impossible feats put for Saizo to master and as such, for him as well. 

Brotherly love only came so far when it came to skills, and it seemed as if these trials had been designated specifically to work towards strength, strength he did not have in such a greater quantity as Saizo.

Cheve was already buried by the passing of seasons and yet every time he looked at one of his weapons in the rising sun, he had to close his eyes and try to forget the guilt he felt. Forget, until he could use it to fuel himself to reach the impossible standards that a son of Saizo must fulfill.

It was a clear, cold morning, sun barely above ground soil and people still burdened with sleep while making their way to their duties. A group of horses galloped towards the clan’s building, riders not stopping even to remove their heavy coats before going inside. Kaze wondered for a moment if he should go inside lest he be shown out because of his curiosity, and yet not 5 minutes after they went inside, he was called inside as well.

The room was full of grim faces, and as he took a closer look at them, Kaze could see that the riders had still clothing and armor throughly stained with blood and he could see makeshift bandages peeking from many of their bindings.

It took another 5 minutes for Saizo to get inside and seated. It took the same amount of time for Kaze to realize he had seen these riders before, weeks ago when they had gone to aid Mokushu against a skirmish with Nohr. One that his father had gone with to put an end to the battalion that was assaulting them so frequently.

His father wasn’t with them, and before they opened their mouth, Kaze already knew what they were going to say.

Their father was dead.

* * *

Castle Shirasagi extended for dozens of meters above the earth, and no matter how many times he looked at it, it never ceased to make him stop for a moment and admire the sheer altitude it had.

It looked to almost sway in the wind, even as he knew the inside was completely stable no matter the harshness of a storm. Inside, he felt as if in solid ground, and yet if he looked out of the window of the highest floor, all he could see the vast expanse of the sky, tiled roofs and verdant trees small as a coin.

If he closed his eyes, he could pretend he was indeed in the sky, far from mundane worries belonging to earth.

It didn't last long whenever he did so. It never did, because then he would hear voices traveling faintly through the walls, and be reminded of the people he failed.

The one he failed the most, the one who called him to the castle on this very day. Queen Mikoto's face was almost ageless, but even he could see the lines near the corner of her eyes and lips becoming ever so stronger as years passed by.

She looked every bit as regal as if she had been born and raised to wear the crown herself instead of her husband, and she beckoned him closer to give him new orders.

It had been a decade and more, and the regret no longer bubbled in the surface every time he saw his queen's face but it still simmered beneath notice for almost none to see. Almost no one but people who could look beyond his facade, and Queen Mikoto was one of them to his dismay.

And yet, the perpetual fear that gripped him that this day might be the one his disgrace would be called upon him in punishment vanished at seeing the expression on her face. It did not come this time either, though being sent away felt vaguely as one. Being part of the contingents that were to protect towns just outside the barrier's edge as it kept shrinking, with orders only to report to herself.

"Please, do try to stick to the shadows so i can see your return."

He couldn't grasp what it meant, and her earnest smile was in place but her eyes betrayed sorrow instead of perpetual tiredness as it had these past few months.

* * *

A sharp pain through his shoulder threw him to the scorched grass and he was out of breath from the impact to even wheeze in pain at the wound.

The blood pounding through his ears wasn't enough to drown out the thunderous sound of galloping horses and the strikes of metal against metal. Against flesh, against bones.

The yells of soldiers still echoed inside his head as Kaze stood up in reflex, still short of breath and sight slightly unfocused by the spreading pain on his shoulder.

Someone had burned him and he didn't have time to be impressed before having to move out of the way from a soldier's sword. He couldn't fall yet, not now, not until he saw the people still inside completely evacuated. Not until he returned to Queen Mikoto again.

He disarmed the soldier and didn't take notice of him besides making sure he wouldn't get up and bash him from behind. He had ran out of shuriken and daggers long ago, so he had to make due with a weapon he knew how to use but was nowhere near as proficient as he would have liked.

A sword was better than a lance or an axe however, no matter how crude his slashes looked in comparison to the elegant throws of his normal weapons. A sword was better than being weaponless, and it gave him a chance to keep fighting as long as he could. He was sure the last groups were out of the town, but they were still far too close and could be hunted down.

Hunted and pillaged, livelihoods destroyed and so as he recovered from a blow that left him unable to breathe through his bloody nose, his sword tinted red again. He couldn't fall again, and his body still moved despite the impossible accumulation of injuries.

A thunder spell to his face ended that, and he was knocked back again by the force of the impact, static running through him though otherwise unharmed. He didn't get a chance to get up however, when the sword was kicked out of his grasp and a great blow turned the world black.

* * *

Their cells had no windows, for all they could possibly see if they had would be the cold, sterile earth that was found at these depths.

It had been so long in the darkness of the cells that they had stopped counting the days, now instead using their meals as a vague sense of time. There was no use in counting whenever he was taken out for interrogation or torture, as mere hours felt like entire days and a day felt like a week.

He did not give in, and he felt a small sense of pride in these unknown comrades that they did not give in either. He could have counted on his fingers the words Rinkah had spoken since they were brought here, though made up by the idle chatter of Shun and Daisuke huddled in the corner. 

There were steps approaching and though everyone was silent, he could feel the immediate tension springing in the air. There was no use resisting and Kaze wondered which one of them would return shaken and in almost tears, or if it would be his turn to be silent for endless hours once again. Instead, they were all herded like cattle, chains dragging on the floor almost too loud a sound after the silence of the past hours. Muscle memory and the steps of the guards ahead of him allowed to navigate the dark and murky hallways, twisting and winding in different directions that he remembered taking.

Then they stopped, and the doors opened.

The light of multiple torches seemed blinding after so much time in near complete darkness and he couldn't help but grimace at the pain as he closed his eyes in reflex. He blinked several times to get used to the new light. More soldiers came and stood guard beneath his group, the ones leading them stopping and looking at them with hardened expressions. They took out keys and removed the shackles on their hands, and feet in Rinkah and his own case.

"Move out." 

He stepped out with the rest of the prisoners and he glanced upwards, realizing that they were so far below that he could barely distinguish a silver of black in the distance. And despite the fact they were exposed to the sky completely with his shackles removed, he felt the furthest from being free, the furthest from swaying in the wind in the middle of the sky.

Kaze knew and accepted it the very moment he had stepped out from his cell, he would not come out of here alive. And yet as his eyes finally adjusted completely and he could make every single detail of the Nohrian crown prince's armor, he heard a vaguely familiar voice that made him turn to seek it's source, and made him speechless and shocked to his very core.

He knew that color of hair, even if it was tinted orange by the light of the torches, and those red eyes were unmistakeable. Most of all, that very same earnest smile directed to the maid and the knight was the same smile he had seen on Queen Mikoto's face the very last time he had been on the castle. 

Lord Kamui was alive.

* * *

 "To look upon their mundane earth, seated right between the stars."


End file.
